Jaap van 't Veen's photos

The palm forest of Vai, is considered being one of the most beautiful natural sights in Crete. Vai is not the only natural palm forest in Crete, but with an area of approximately 250.000 square metres and about 5.000 palm trees it is certainly the largest, even in Europe. Scientists have proven that the Vai palm trees are an endemic species known as Phoenix theophrasti, or Cretan Date Palm. There have been palm trees in Crete since ancient times, as historical sources attest. The name Vai comes from ‘vayia’, the Greek word for palms. Vai beach has fine golden sand and pebbles at its north end. A viewing platform offers a panoramic view of the palm forest and beach of Vai. The palm forest and surrounding area is owned by the powerful Toplou Monastery, which is the largest landowner in eastern Crete.

The 'Prinselijk Begijnhof Ten Wijngaarde’ (Princely Beguinage Ten Wijngaarde) with its white-coloured house fronts and tranquil convent garden was founded in 1245. This little piece of world heritage was once the home of the beguines, emancipated lay-women who nevertheless led a pious and celibate life. It is the only preserved beguinage in the city of Bruges. Nowadays, the Beguinage is inhabited by the Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict; the church is still fully functioning. The complex houses a beguinage museum where one can gain insights into what daily life was like in the 17th century. (PiP: entrance gate to the beguinage)

Chester Cathedral is an ancient abbey and a remarkable building of international importance that has played a significant role in shaping the history of Chester. There have been churches on the site of the Chester Cathedral for some 1.400 years. After the departure of the Romans, churches were built by the Saxons. In the year of 907 a church dedicated to the Anglo-Saxon princess St. Werburgh was constructed. The church housed her remains and pilgrims made their way to the cathedral. In 1092 a Benedictine abbey was founded by the Normans. The monastery remained on the site for nearly 500 years until King Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries in England. Fortunately the king handed the monastic buildings back to serve as the cathedral church of the new diocese of Chester in 1541. Over the centuries much of the soft red sandstone has become eroded and much of what we see today is the result of enthusiastic restoration during the Victorian period. The interior offers some treasures of national significance, including the finest pinnacled medieval choir stalls (main picture), dating back to the late 14th century.

White Island - New Zealand's is situated 50 km's off the coast of the Bay of Plenty near the town of Whakatane. Although some companies offer helicopter-flights over the island, I highly recommend a guided boat tour from Whakatane. It is more than worth the money. Total duration of such a tour is about 6 hours, including 2 hours visit of the volcano itself. White Island is New Zealand's most active marine volcano and steam and gas are rising continuously from its craters. The plume of smoke and gas can be seen from the mainland. It has a nearly continuous stage of smoking, at least since it was 'discovered' by James Cook in 1769, which gave White Island its name. The island has an extremely fascinating scenery and is so remote, so pure and so different from many other spots. It is almost if you are witness of the birth of the earth or walking on the moon. The bright yellow sulphurous vents, the smell of the gases and rumbling of the inner earth under our feet provide an unique experience. (The pictures were taken with a Rollei Prego 90 > scan.)

View from the trail from Hörnerbahn mountain station to Berghaus Schwaben into the Valley of the River Iller nearby Oberstdorf.

Sunset at the beach of Matala. Matala once was the place of the flower power and the hippy-scene. Before 1970, when the flower-children and the hippies overrunned the quiet fishing village, Matala only existed of ten houses, one tavern, a beautiful beach and of course the ancient cave houses to which Matala owns her fame. Nobody knows quite who started cutting these caves, but it seems likely that they were first hollowed out as Roman or early Christian tombs. The artificial caves, with their passages, stone beds and fireplaces, have now been put under monumental care.

Wat Neramit Wipattasana is located on a hillside above the little village of Dan Sai (Loei province) and set in a manicured garden (PiP 1). This rather new temple is famous for its large ordination hall and pagoda made of red-coloured laterite, which is unlike elsewhere in Thailand. The ordination hall is surrounded by painted murals (PiP2) and columns lining the way to three golden buddhas, among them an official replica of Phra Phutthachinnarat, a revered buddha image in Phitsanulok Province.

View from terrace of the summit restaurant at the Walmendingerhorn (1950 m - PiP1) towards the Muttelberg ski area (PiP 2) and the Austrian and Swiss Alps. On the left hand side the glass panorama lift. (This breathtaking panorama is a stitch of four pictures.)

The Walhalla - modeled on the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens - is a Hall of Fame to honor German speaking artists, writers, philosophers, scientists, politicians and other historic men and women. (For me as a Dutchman it was a bit odd to see some famous countrymen surrounded by numerous Germans.) The Walhalla is named after the ‘Valhalla’ of Norse mythology. King Ludwig I of Bavaria commissioned conceived his Temple of Fame in the early 19th Century. After choosing the location on a hilltop overlooking the river Danube, he ordered the construction of a Greek Revival monument. The building, called Walhalla, was built from 1830 to 1842 and became a symbol of "the German nation" at a time when Germany was a patchwork of kingdoms and small states. The large hall of the Walhalla is lined with marble and statuary, displaying some 130 busts and plaques of famous people from the German-speaking, who made notable contributions to German art, architecture, and history. Since 1962 new busts have been added to the original 96 at intervals of five to seven years.

The Bielerhöhe Pass (also known as Silvretta Pass) has an elevation of 2.032 m. The pass lies just north of the Silvretta Lake (an artificial lake). The famous Silvretta High Alpine Road (a toll road) connects the valleys of Montafon in Vorarlberg with the Paznaun Valley in Tyrol (PiP 1). The part from Partenen to the pass has 34 bends (PiP 2). During winter (PiP 3) the pass is closed for normal traffic, but still can be reached from Partenen by a cableway and a ‘tunnelbus’. The Bielerhöhe is on the watershed between Rhine and Danube.

The Lord Leycester Hospital has never been a medical establishment. The word hospital is used in its ancient sens, meaning ‘a charitable institution for the housing and maintenance of the needy, infirm or aged’. In 1571 Robert Duydley, Earl of Leicester, founded a retirement home for disabled soldiers and their wives. His ‘hospital’ was set up in buildings which were already more than 150 years old, when it was the home of Warwick’s medieval guilds. The hospital, now a self-supporting charity, continues to provide a home for ‘the Brethen’, as they are still known. They make together with their wives a key contribution to ensuring that this architectural gem is accessible for visitors.

Mochlos is located on the north coast of Crete, between Agios Nikolaos and Sitia. Only being accessible along one of the two narrow winding roads from the main road, it still is one of the few truly quiet places left on the island. The heart of the village, where all life is concentrating, is its quiet bay, lined with tavernas and also offering a small beach. A main feature of Mochlos is the island of the same name that is only 150m from the shore. It was probably still connected to the 'mainland' in Minoan times and was an important harbour. The island can be visited, swimming or by a boat from the local jetty.

Limburg - developed around a castle from the late 7th century - was first mentioned in documents in the year of 910 as "Lintpurc", when the St. George monastery was founded by Konrad Kurzbold. The town became stone ramparts in the 12th and following centuries. The construction of a new church belonging to St. George monastery started in 1200. Around that time a new castle was built south of the new church. The plague ravaged Limburg in 1344. The town then underwent a steady decline until the early 19th century, when the rise of the Duchy of Nassau (1806-1866) gave a new lease of life to Limburg. In 1827, Limburg became the seat of a diocese and in 1886 it was made district capital. Limburg's old town offers a maze of cobble stoned streets, lined with crooked half-timbered houses some dating back to the 13th century, but most of them are ‘just’ from the 17th or 18th century. The St. George Cathedral is Limburg’s landmark, situated on a little hill, is one of the best examples of late Romanesque architecture in Germany. The church was built between 1200 and 1235, it was elevated to the rank of cathedral in 1827. I took this picture from a parking garage in the city centre with the former town hall in the foreground and the St. Georg Cathedral above the old town in the background.

In the 19th century Lake Maggiore was discovered by English travelers, who built beautiful summer residences along the lake; among others also the well-known Villa Taranto with 16 hectares of gardens. The botanical gardens surrounding the Villa Taranto were created between 1931 and 1940 by the Scottish captain Neil McEacharn. He bought an existing villa and its neighboring estates, cut down more than 2.000 trees, and undertook substantial changes to the landscape, including the addition of major water features. Today the gardens contain nearly 20.000 plant varieties, representing more than 3.000 species, set among 7 km of paths. With some 150.000 visitors yearly it is the biggest tourist attraction in the area.

Althorp is a wonderful stately homen and an estate of about 5.300 ha. It has been held by the prominent aristocratic Spencer family for more than 500 years and has been owned by Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer since 1992. Althorp House (main picture and PiP 1) was a classical red brick Tudor building, but its appearance was radically altered, starting in 1788, when extensive changes were made. The house is surrounded by a formal garden and a walled park. Althorp was also the home of Lady Diana Spencer, later Princess of Wales, before her marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales. After her dead she was interred - 06.09.1997 - on a small island in the middle of the so called Round Oval Lake (PiP 2). A Doric-style temple with Diana's name inscribed on top is situated at the edge of the pond.

Spinalonga (officially known as Kalydon) is an arid and barren rocky islet lying at the mouth of the natural port of Elounda and opposite to the village of Plaka. From the year of 1204 Crete was ruled by the Republic of Venice. To protect the port of Elounda against the Ottomans they built a large fortress on Spinalonga in the late 16th century. Crete was conquered in 1669 by the Ottoman Turks, but Spinalonga remained Venetian until the year of 1715. After that, the island was occupied by the Ottomans. In 1903 the last Turks left the island and Spinalonga was subsequently used as a leper colony till 1957. Approximately 400 people inhabited the island over the half-century. Today, the uninhabited island is a popular tourist attraction in Crete. The island can easily be accessed from Plaka, Elounda and Agios Nikolaos.

Burghausen was first mentioned in an official document in the year 1025. But excavations at the castle have shown that the area has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. The town has developed over thousands years, but it is not possible to say how long there has been a permanent settlement. From the 13th century Burghausen became a wealthy city due to the trade of salt, which came from Hallein (Austria) using the river Salzach. The salt was brought ashore in Burghausen and transported further overland. The income from the salt trade was lost in 1594 because of the establishment of the ducal salt monopoly. After that the town experienced more than 300 years of administrative and commercial decline. By the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, Burghausen had become an impoverished provincial town with barely 2.500 inhabitants. However an economic upturn began in 1915 with the establishment of an important chemical company. The unique romantic character of the old town is preserved and the town square offers many architectural gems and is considered being one of the most beautiful squares in Central Europe. Burghausen Castle is situated on a hill above the town. The castle complex measures 1,051 metres from one side to the other, making it the longest castle in the world. The complex today includes the main gothic castle structure, a gothic-style chapel, several museums, one inner and five outer courtyards. (Panorama stitched of 4 pictures.)

Gram Castle is one of the most monumental buildings in southern Jutland. The stately building with three wings opens its courtyard to the main road and bids a warm welcome to local residents as well as tourists. Gram Castle was first mentioned in 1231, when it was a mansion with 3-4 farms owned by King Valdemar. The castle consists of three wings, starting in 1470 and built over three centuries: 15th, 16th and the 17th. This means it has architectonic features from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque !! In the Middle Ages Gram Castle was an important castle, due to the fact that the main road between Haderslev and Ribe crossed over Gram Å (the stream), so it was possible to collect tolls from all the travellers and merchants passing through with their goods. It is the largest Middle Age building in Denmark outside Copenhagen